BOSTON — With the Nets’ season — and Kenny Atkinson’s tenure as coach — tipping off Wednesday night against the Celtics at TD Garden, they know they’re not winning an NBA title. They know they’re almost certainly not winning more games than they lose.

But they can win more than people expect. They can be this year’s Trail Blazers. Instead of being the league’s worst team, they can be its hardest-working and set the table for future success.

“We worked very, very hard — that’s all you can ask,” veteran forward Luis Scola said. “We got better, which is the other thing we’re going to use to judge how the season is going. … How much do we get better from one week to the other?

“We know we’re young. We know the team comes from 21 wins. So, we’re not expecting to be any winning record next year.

“But I do believe this team can compete. I do believe it can win a lot of games if we play hard, if we get better every day, if we work hard every day in practice. We’ve got to take care of all those things first. The wins will comes later on.”

How many, and how much later? The Nets went just 21-61 last season, and Las Vegas has set the over-under for this season at an NBA-low 20.5 wins. If they’re going to do better, they will have to hustle their way there, starting Wednesday against Al Horford and Isaiah Thomas.

“We all know what’s going on here, so we don’t need to have any pressure about anything. We’ve just got to go out there and show how hard we work, and try to steal some wins,’’ backup point guard Greivis Vasquez said.

“We all know this is not going to be easy. The NBA is brutal, tough league, cold, business. But you have to be prepared. … We’re controlling what we can control. We’re working extremely hard.”

Point guard Jeremy Lin, the team’s marquee free-agent addition, said: “We’re going to have to be blue-collar, just nitty-gritty, physical. We just have to be scrappy. We’re not the most talented. That’s not a knock on anyone. It’s also not a surprise. We’re not the most talented. But it’s never just been about pure talent, and we’ve seem that many times, over and over again in the history of the game.”

It was proven again last season by the Trail Blazers, to whom the Nets look for inspiration.

After losing LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Arron Afflalo before the season, Portland had an over-under of 26.5 wins from Vegas oddsmakers, tied for second-lowest in the NBA. Instead, they went 44-38 and reached the second round of the playoffs.

“I keep referring to Portland last year, losing four or five starters and guys just filled in,” Lin said. “They had the ultimate team in terms of the way they played, and they completely overachieved. So it’s possible.”

It’s possible, but even harder because the Nets have Lin and Brook Lopez instead of a Damian Lillard who can step forward into stardom.

“Obviously you read what everybody is saying, but if you’re a competitor, that motivates you,’’ Vasquez said. “We’re all here working hard. We’re not working hard to lose. We’re working hard to prove a point. We have to prove people wrong. That’s part of life. If you want something in life, you’ve got to go get it. And how do you get it? By proving people wrong, by working hard. We’re willing to take the challenge, the whole group from the GM to the equipment guy.

“We know what we’re playing for, and we know where we’re at. Yeah, we probably won’t be the most talented team, but we have some pretty good players and a great coaching staff. Who knows? Look what happened with the Trail Blazers. … So it can happen here, easily. We’re positive. Very positive.”